Fire Light
by DieHardKataang
Summary: Flames to embers, embers to ashes, and from ashes, new flames could rise. Please review!


_A/N: Hey guys. Ugh, about halfway through writing this, my life took a really sharp turn...that was today actually. I finished it to keep my mind off of it. Sometimes things just don't seem fair, you know?_

_Sorry for that really depressing note. On a semi-less depressing note, anyone see last week's LoK ep? Hoolllyyy crud man. Such epicness. the finale is tomorrow and it's gonna be SICK._

_Anyway, this is kind of like what I think may have taken place after EIP because, come on, we all know Katara and Aang had to have talked about it sometime, they wouldn't just leave it hanging like that._

_I hope you like this fic! It's a little different from the other things I have written but then again not really...whatever lol. I hope you like it! Please don't forget to **REVIEW**!_

_Disclaimer: Is my name Mike? No. Is my name Bryan? No. Then do I own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of it's characters? Yeah no. I don't. *cries*_

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It had been a long day on Ember Island. After returning from the play, the Gaang had decided to push the disturbing scenes from their minds by enjoying some time around a campfire on the beach. They had all told jokes and laughed and just reminisced about the various adventures-and misadventures- they had been on over the past year. They talked about old times and they all put in their best efforts to keep the air light, for they were all very much aware that by that time next week, their entire lives would be different…if they even lived to see that day.

After about an hour or two of their friendly congregation, the chatter began to dwindle down. One by one, different members headed off to bed until two lone figures sat on opposite sides of the dying fire. Neither was really aware of their privacy, each lost in their own spiraling thoughts and feelings. It wasn't until a loud crackle of fire awoke them from their occupied thoughts that they realized that they were the only ones left.

Katara looked over to Aang, who had been staring absently into the fire for some time now. He had been laughing and talking with the others just as much as usual tonight-as had she- but now that they were left alone, the tension in the air hung thick. As she looked at him, the disastrous events that had taken place on that balcony not five hours ago played back in her mind. She thought of the desperation painted all across his features and in his voice. She could still feel the pang of guilt that burdened her after she left him alone without a real answer to his burning questions. And she knew that they needed to talk about it. The comet was less than a week away and she didn't want to waste any of it feeling weird or awkward around her best friend.

Just as she was trying to come up with a way to bring up the subject gently, Aang broke the silence that stretched between them.

"Today was hard."

Katara furrowed her brow in confusion. Of all the words she could use to describe today- distressing, aggravating, stressful, crazy- "hard" just didn't seem to cut it. But before she could ask him to clarify, he continued.

"Those people, in the theater, they…they _cheered_ when…when Ozai…when he killed me."

The pain in his voice alone was enough to bring Katara to tears. She couldn't even imagine what it must have felt like for him to see people be overjoyed with his death, and with Ozai becoming ruler of the world after all he and firelords past have done.

"I know," she replied quietly, as if she believed that raising her tone any louder could break him completely. "That was…hard to watch. I can't imagine what…well, what you must've felt like. Are you…are you okay?"

Aang mulled over her question in his mind. _Am I okay_, he thought. _Am I?_

That was a tricky question for him to answer. For so long now, people have been asking him "Are you okay?" and every time he answered with "I'm alright" or "I'll be fine." That is…until earlier that night. The one time he had actually decided to tell the truth when someone asked him that question, he made himself look like an idiot and he very well may have lost whatever he might have had to gain. And so, refusing to take his chances and yet again make an ever bigger fool of himself, but not wanting to lie to her because, even after the events of that night, she was still his best friend, he replied, "I don't know."

After hearing his whispered rejoinder, Katara didn't know what else to say. She simply watched him stare into the dissipating fire with a troubled look on his face as the silence surrounded them. She wanted so badly to walk over to him and wrap him up in her arms, but she knew that such a simple action as that could have a totally different meaning now. So she forced herself to remain seated, firmly cemented to the sand under her feet, feeling helpless as to what she could do to help.

They sat so still for what felt like so long, Katara watching Aang watching the fire, that when Aang suddenly lifted his eyes to meet hers, she visibly jumped. She quickly averted her own eyes in hopes that he hadn't noticed her staring, looking at the ocean, the sky, the stars…anywhere but his face, but she could feel his gaze penetrating through her.

When Katara's eyes finally met his, she was shocked at what she found. Normally, they were full of so much light and warmth. The beautiful gray color would radiate in his happiness and compliment his ever present smile. But now…now they were filled with so much pain.

The fear and anguish Katara saw broke the binds that fastened her to the ground; she simply couldn't stay still any longer. She got to her feet and rounded the pit that was no longer full of a warming flame, but with ashes in its place. She sat down next to Aang and placed a hand on his shoulder, not brave enough to hug him just yet.

Their gazes remained locked for what felt like a lifetime. They thought of what had been spoken, but more importantly what had been left _unspoken_ that night. The silence was suffocating to them both. They were now so unsure of themselves in each other's presence, and they hated it. What happened to them being best friends who could tell each other anything? Aang recognized that it was probably his fault that they were in such an uncomfortable situation at the time, so he figured it was his responsibility to speak up first.

"You know, Katara, about what I said earlier, during the intermission at the play…"

Seeing where this was going and still a little hesitant to sail such uncharted waters just yet, Katara tried to ease him off the subject, "No, Aang, it's okay. You don't have to-"

"Please," Aang cut her off, feeling a newfound confidence as he figured out just what he wanted to say to her. He decided that it was now or never to say what he need to. "I need to tell you this."

Giving in, Katara nodded slowly, figuring that they might as well talk about it now because this may be their only moment alone before the comet comes.

Aang gave her a small smile in thanks and continued, "First off, I need to say that I am so, _so_ sorry for what happened on that balcony tonight. I was way out of line for kissing you after you said you were confused. I should have just left it there. I was stupid and tried to push you and that is unacceptable. I am really, really sorry for that."

Katara nodded again, all too ready to accept his apology. She hadn't really needed one in the first place, as she too had said stupid things, but she accepted it nonetheless. She let her hand fall from his shoulder and into her lap as he continued.

"But Katara, there is more I still need to say. We both know that the comet is less than a week away. I'm going to have to face the Firelord and there's no telling how that battle will turn out."

Katara opened her mouth to immediately dismiss the idea that Aang could lose the fight, but he correctly guessed her thoughts and cut her off before she could refute him.

"Katara, we both know what's at stake. It's great to be optimistic and have hope, but the reality is that we just don't know what's going to happen, and there is no way to find out. So…"

He hesitated before continuing, afraid of what she might think about what he was going to say. _Come on Aang_, he thought to himself, _she needs to hear this, and you need to say it._

"So I think it's best that we don't leave anything unspoken. Please just… hear me out."

Katara nodded hesitantly, unsure of where this was about to go. But she wanted to hear what he had to say, so she opened her mind and clung to his every word. She had no way to prepare herself for what he said next.

"I love you, Katara."

Those four words were enough to send Katara's head whirling into orbit. She felt like the ground had completely dissolved beneath her and she was falling, with no end in sight. She didn't know how to react, what to feel, what to do about this confession from Aang. She started to take a breath and let out a half-formed reply, but the look on his face made her breath catch in her throat. His eyes were soft and yet subtly pleading for her to listen to him. His face had an expression that she wasn't sure she had seen before on him…an expression full of love. Katara felt that she should have been unnerved by such a look and yet strangely…she wasn't. She kept her silence and let Aang continue.

"Now, before you say anything, please hear what I have to say first. I love you and I have loved you from the moment I woke up in your arms after being in that iceberg. I'm not telling you this to try to force you to feel something you don't or to say something you don't mean. I said it because I _need_ you to know.

"Katara, I don't know if I'm going to make it to the fall. I don't know if I'll ever get another chance to tell you. The thought of keeping it to myself with such a dangerous task ahead of us…I just can't do it. It's just something I had to say.

"But this awkwardness and tension between us…I hate it. Regardless of what happened tonight, we're still friends, right? I don't want to lose the friendship between us because, honestly, it may be the only thing I have to hold onto."

Katara was still reeling over Aang's first confession when he said this. She was taken aback and his words confused her. She asked him, "What do you mean?"

Aang sighed and let his eyes drift from her face and to the ashes where a few resilient embers had yet to completely fizzle out.

"Well, why am I fighting this war? Why am I facing the Firelord? Yes, I'm doing it for the world and the people in it, but mostly, I'm doing it for you guys, for my friends, my…my family. Other than Appa, I don't really have anyone left that I love from my old life. They were all…they all…well…"

Aang trailed off and a single tear slid down his cheek as the pain of losing his people coursed through him. Katara's heart filled with sympathy as she saw his troubled expression, and she once again placed her hand on his shoulder, this time squeezing it in reassurance.

His somber grays met her cerulean blues, and he allowed a small smile to come to his face despite himself at her comforting touch.

"Anyway," he continued, "You guys are my family. All of you, Sokka, Toph, Suki, Zuko…you… I love all of you and _that's_ the reason I'm fighting. You guys are all I have to hold onto, the love and friendship between us all. If we lost that…well…I don't know how long I would last. Without you, I wouldn't be where I am-_who_ I am- today.

"Katara, you are my _best_ friend. You have held me together all this time, and you picked up the pieces when I did fall apart. You have stood by my side through everything, you taught me waterbending…you saved my life-on multiple occasions. I can talk to you about anything and we have so much fun together! The thought of losing that, especially when the odds are stacked this high against us…well, I just can't lose you. Not now, not ever. I can't take this tension between us.

"I know that things probably can't go back to exactly how they were, and I don't take back what I said-no matter how stupidly I said it- but I don't want us to be weird around each other. I don't want to lose what we had…I don't want to lose my best friend."

By now, the tears were freely falling from Katara's eyes as she listened to the words of her friend…her best friend. Her heart was touched by his confessions and she racked her brain for words to say in reply.

"Aang," she began with a confidence she didn't know she had, "You will _never_ lose me. I was there in the beginning and I will be there for you until the very, very end. You're my best friend too, and you're not getting rid of me that easily. We're family, and family sticks together through everything.

"I also still mean what I said at the play, I am confused, but I do care about you, _so_ much. And I always will. You are so much more than a brother to me, Aang. I need you to know that. And I don't want to lose our friendship either. As much as I want to believe that we're all going to walk away from this unscathed, you're right; there's just no way of knowing what will happen when that comet crosses the sky in a few days. But I want you to know that I will _always_ be there for you and I have _never_ doubted you. I need our friendship going into this battle just as much as you do, so I guess we have no choice but to get over our issues and move on, at least for now. Agreed?"

The unwavering confidence that shone in her eyes made Aang's heart melt. She believed in him, probably more than he did himself. He was now certain that what they had was not lost, but evolving. What it was evolving into exactly, he couldn't say with any real certainty, but he still had hope.

He allowed a smile to play across his gentle features as he turned to her and said, "Agreed."

She happily returned his smile, finally wrapping him in a warm embrace. It felt so good to hug him again, she had been too hesitant ever since the invasion, and now she realized how silly it was. When they parted, silence once again settled over them. This time however, it was a comfortable silence. It allowed them to accept that even though all their issues weren't resolved and there were still things to be discussed _after_ the war, they still had each other to lean on, to hold on to. They were best friends-family-for life and _nothing_ would ever change that.

A gentle breeze blew over the sandy beach, making Katara shiver. Noticing this, Aang said, "You cold?"

"Yeah, a little. But I don't want to go inside. It's nice out here…peaceful. It reminds me of when we were traveling," Katara replied with a wistful smile. She loved thinking about their adventures that seemed like lifetimes ago, even though they were all less than a year behind them.

Aang smiled, agreeing with her and feeling the same sentiment. It felt weird to him having an actual room and bed to stay in, if only for a little while. A night on the beach by the campfire didn't sound like a bad prospect at all. He used his firebending to reignite the fire that had once glowed in the pit. "I agree," he said, "Let's just stay out here tonight! It will be like old times!"

Katara's smile grew wide at the suggestion. With the fire blazing just near them, it was warm enough that they didn't need to go back to the house to get blankets and the sand was soft enough that they didn't need pillows. They both just laid down beside each other and stared up at the stars.

"You know, maybe tonight wasn't all that bad," Katara said. "I mean, yeah, there were a few mishaps and the play was awful, but it was fun to look back at our old adventures. And afterward, we all had so much fun. It's been a while since we all sat down by the fire and just talked. And it wouldn't have happened if we didn't want to get our minds off the play," Katara turned her head to look at Aang and smiled, "Tonight was a good night."

Aang returned her smile and answered, "Yeah, it was."

As the stars began to fade from the sky and the sun started to break the horizon at the edge of the ocean, sleep finally captured the two benders. They fell into wistful dreams with vibrant colors and joyous feelings, a smile painted on each of their faces as they slept.

The fire had slowly disappeared as the sun crept higher, only a few cinders remaining when the sky had been dyed in marvelous hues of purples, yellows, oranges, reds, and many other warming colors.

The next week was not going to be easy, but the pair is certain that they might just be able to make it through now that they knew that they would always have something to hold onto.

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_A/N: Please don't forget to review! Thanks for reading! :)_


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